Month: March 2021

GameStop: Cha-ching!

Posted on by Joe Fonicello

In a promotion sent to PowerUp Rewards members at around noon on March 9th, the company advertised an extra $50 credit on select hardware trade-ins, with an interesting choice of emoji.

Cha-ching!

Cohen? Is that you? Or could this just be another coincidence? Personally, I don’t see why they would have used this specific emoji unless they were alluding to the stock price. There’s plenty of other emojis they could have used, all of which suit the expression better. Seems like GameStop is having fun with the price-action to me.

Source: GameStop PowerUp Rewards

Business Insider: Ryan Cohen is Turning GameStop Into the Amazon of Gaming

Posted on by Joe Fonicello


In an incredibly brief article published in Business Insider, Ryan Cohen is recognized for his efforts thus far to transform GameStop into the Amazon of gaming.

Ryan Cohen, the Chewy cofounder and former CEO who convinced Wall Street that pets are big business, has a new pet project: a new initiative to transform GameStop, the world’s largest video game retailer, into the Amazon of gaming.

The coverage goes on to share how Cohen bought up a sizable chunk of GameStop shares in 2020, accumulating over 12% of the company by December and sending stock value soaring by investors who caught his move early (Hey, that’s us).

Reference is made to Cohen’s famous November 2020 letter to the board, and how Ryan is now in charge of enabling that “strategic vision” at GameStop, alongside likeminded colleagues.

While we appreciate any and all media coverage on RC’s GameStop transformation, this one didn’t present any non-surface-level info, and we prefer Business Insider’s earlier profile that shared more background. Check that one out instead, and pass on this one.

Source: Business Insider

Ryan Cohen to Lead Transformation Committee

Posted on by Joe Fonicello

GameStop has announced that the board has formed a Strategic Planning and Capital Allocation Committee to identify initiatives that can further accelerate the Company’s transformation.

The Committee is comprised of Alan Attal, former Chief Operating Officer of Chewy, Ryan Cohen, former CEO of Chewy, and Kurt Wolf, chief investment officer of Hestia Capital Management, with Ryan Cohen serving as Chairperson of the committee. 

The statement goes on to claim credit for some of the recent hirings and forward thinking initiatives 

  • Appointing a Chief Technology Officer.
  • Hiring two executives to lead the Company’s customer care and e-commerce fulfillment functions, respectively.
  • Appointing Mr. Attal as Chair of the Board’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and Mr. Wolf as Chair of the Board’s Compensation Committee.
  • Announcing a Chief Financial Officer succession plan and commencing a search for a new Chief Financial Officer with relevant technology and/or e-commerce experience.

In the final paragraph, the news release states that the Committee will continue to focus on identifying actions that can transform GameStop into a technology business and help create enduring value for stockholders.

The committee is responsible for evaluating areas that include GameStop’s current operational objectives, capital structure and allocation priorities, digital capabilities, organizational footprint, and personnel.

If the committee is responsible for evaluating digital capabilities, that essentially places Ryan Cohen as GameStop Chairperson of E-Commerce. 

Source: GameStop Corp. News Room

Ryan Cohen Tweets Pets.com Mascot

Posted on by Joe Fonicello

In a tweet that was immediately deleted, Ryan Cohen shared an image of the former Pets.com mascot along with a nauseated face emoji.

Pets.com was a short-lived e-commerce business that sold pet accessories and supplies direct to consumers. It launched in August 1998 and went from an IPO on the Nasdaq to liquidation in 268 days. 

The company rolled out a regional advertising campaign using a variety of media (TV, print, radio and eventually a Pets.com magazine). It started with a five-city advertising campaign rollout and then expanded the campaign to 10 cities by Christmas, 1999. The company succeeded wildly in making its mascot, the Pets.com sock puppet, well known. The Pets.com site design was extremely well received, garnering several advertising awards.

CNET named Pets.com as one of the greatest dot-com disasters in history.

After Pets.com liquidated, Hakan and Associates and Bar None, Inc. purchased the rights to the puppet under a joint venture called Sock Puppet LLC for $125,000 in 2002. Bar None, Inc., an American automotive loan firm, gave the puppet a new slogan:

“Everyone deserves a second chance.”

GameStop investors are already beginning to dissect Cohen’s latest cryptic tweet, with a leading theory coming from DOMO Capital.

Hilariously enough, the mascot can be seen in a pets.com TV spot, taunting a delivery driver over his shorts.

Source: Kimmy Cabreramina,  Wikipedia

 Update: As of 2:19 PM, Ryan Cohen has issued an updated tweet of the sock puppet, with the pets.com branding most notably removed. We can only assume his legal team advised against using Petsmart’s trademark.

Modern Guilt: Moon Base Departed

Posted on by Joe Fonicello

 

 

In this episode of the Modern Guilt podcast, hosts Damon and Hayden are joined for the second time by GMEdd.com Co-Proprietor Rod Alzmann. In the wake of Rod’s extraordinary GameStop journey and year to date, the guys debrief on the GameStop madness and look forwards to discuss the economic outlook for the 2020s, attempting to find the even keel between inflation fears and roaring twenties hype.

Source: Anchor.fm